Tom Foley Plans To Run For Governor

GOP Nominee from 2010 Wants Another Shot

Republican Tom Foley, long expected to seek a rematch with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, said Thursday he is planning to run for governor again in 2014.

A wealthy businessman from Greenwich, Foley lost to Malloy by just 6,000 votes in 2010, despite winning most municipalities in the state. He promised to work harder in the state's cities, where voters delivered a victory for Gov. Malloy.

"The state needs a new governor. I'm very concerned about where the state is going,'' Foley said.

He said Connecticut's current financial troubles – high unemployment and a predicted $1 billion deficit next year – can be blamed on Malloy.

Under Gov. Malloy's leadership in 2011, the state eliminated a projected $3.7 billion state deficit with a combination of tax increases, spending cuts and concessions from state employee unions. Foley said Connecticut's current financial troubles – high unemployment and a predicted $1 billion deficit next year – are due to the Malloy administration's failure to cut spending and the increase in taxes.

"I was very clear about the math that this was going to happen if the state didn't reduce expenses,'' Foley said. "We have increased spending."

When he ran in 2010, Foley promised to plug the deficit without raising taxes. He said he will run in 2014 with a similar promise.

"A lot of people have been encouraging me to run for two years," said Foley, who runs a private equity firm that specializes in leveraged buyouts of distressed companies. A number of Republicans, including House Republican leader Larry Cafero, are considering a run for governor. Foley said he welcomes a primary fight.

Roy Occhiogrosso, who managed Malloy's campaign in 2010 and who remains a top advisor to the governor, said running against Foley would be like facing Mitt Romney.

"He resembles Mitt Romney in a lot of ways -- his background, his theory of economics. He will end up being as successful as Mitt Romney was on the national level."

"He lost one race and he's welcome to lose another. His entire campaign strategy appears to be 'I told you so and if you listen to me we would be in better shape,''' Occhiogrosso said. "Had Tom Foley won the last election Connecticut would be so much worse off now."